Please remember that you need to have an hour of non-eating, non-drinking on both sides of taking the sugar water or oil. The standard routine is to take about 120 to 150 calories in sugar water or oil twice a day, once in the morning, and once in the afternoon. This should take care of evening cravings, according to the diet’s supporters.

We we noted that Dr. Roberts says that he actually got too thin, and had to scale back his dosage after friends told him he looked unhealthy. On the other hand, pioneer diet book author Dr. Lulu, in the early 20th century, wrote that dieters are sure to confront jealous friends and husbands who felt more comfortable with the status quo, and will tell the dieter “she is starting to look sickly or old.”

The Shangri-La Diet theory is that if you give your body calories unassociated with any taste, it will lower its set point.So the calories should be taken between meals, separated from any eating or drinking (other than water) by an hour each side.

Also, everyone I’ve seen who was anorexic who tried the diet gained weight (5 feet, 5 inches, 100 pounds, to anorexic), which seems strange. A possibility, considering the theory behind the Shangri-La Diet, is that the diet “corrects” the set point, and in your case you are already at or below your proper weight. If you lost 10 or 15 pounds, you would be skirting the lower edge of a healthy BMI and be close to underweight.

I have been doing this “diet” since Monday, three tablespoons sugar in water twice per day. I am impressed that it works. I put diet in quotes because it is not a diet in the traditional sense. It does seem to suppress appetite in an odd way. I found that by the afternoon of the second day, I was no longer hungry or craving snacks.By the third day, I was having to remind myself to eat because I was getting weak. That is,by 1 p.m., with no breakfast (other than coffee and then sugar water) and after a lot of physical exercise, I was not hungry. But I could feel that I needed food. This is a creepy feeling. I have had that everyday since (it is Friday). I do not snack anymore, although I used to all the time. I eat a normal dinner and a small lunch now.I have lost six pounds, too much for a week, but have been drinking a lot of water. I knowit is not water loss since my Tanita scale shows water percent.

I think what happens is that when I eat familiar food with calories and flavor, my body says to itself, “This is feast food! Turn up the appetite, eat and store fat, because famine is just around the corner.”

Just oil is fine. You can do it twice a day rather than three times for three or four tablespoons in all, although doing it three times a day would have the advantage of preventing you from eating for six hours in the day!

The purpose of the oil or sugar is not to “fill you up” or deaden your appetite just before a meal. That would be the grapefruit diet or apple diet.The purpose of the oil or sugar is to trick your body into disassociating calories with food taste, thus breaking your caveman instincts. The effect is an overall loss of appetite all through the day.

The only reason to drink the oil or sugar water in mid-morning and mid-afternoon is because those are long stretches of time when you normally wouldn’t be eating, so you have an hour or two of non-eating time around the time you drink the oil or sugar water. You could drink it a couple hours after dinner and at 3:00 in the morning if you like, with the same effect. If you wish to divide the oil or sugar water into three doses, with one at night, that’s fine too, but you can’t eat within an hour of taking the oil or sugar water.

The sugar-water acts as famine food (calories with no flavor), so my body says, “This is famine food! Turn down the appetite and burn my stored fat, because who knows when feast-time will come.”

Canola oil has been reported to cause sluggishness in some of the people who tried it. You might want to try another type!

You cannot use a sugar substitute such as Splenda, Equal, or Sweet ‘n Low because they do not contain any calories. The idea is to trick your body into associating calories with flavorless food, therefore you don’t have a craving for more.

This is truly amazing because… I smoke marijuana quite often. I’m 25, have a great job, and smoke at night with friends to relax. Every diet I’ve been on has failed because of my habit. The munchies were just unbearable, and I would just never be able to control myself at night before bed. If there was something delicious in my house I’d have to have it. Now I can smoke and just watch my friends eat six slices of pizza each with no problem. I’m also looking forward to cooking my own meals — I bought a low-cal cook book. And I’m going for hikes with my dog. This has truly been life altering.